Boris Johnson braces for meeting with furious US officials after defying Trump’s demand to spurn Huawei
February 19, 2020
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Sisters Juree Burgett and Tanya Knight, both in their 60s, smell various marijuana buds, assessing their options at a trendy dispensary in Missouri. They drove three hours from Kansas -- where recreational cannabis use is still illegal -- to make their purchase.
"They will not legalize it in Kansas. They won't give us medical (usage)," says 64-year-old Burgett, clad in a denim jacket.
The shop with a drive-through window is in a rundown part of Kansas City, just off the highway and over the border into Missouri, the largely conservative Midwestern state that is the latest to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.
The new regulation, approved by voters in a referendum in November, has sparked an economic boom for the "Show Me" state, fueled by thousands of pot smokers from the eight states along its borders, most of which have not legalized the drug.
For Burgett, making the long drive is "easier than getting it off the streets."
She ends up buying chewing gum infused with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, one of the popular edibles in a country where more than half of the 50 states have decriminalized marijuana in some form.
Burgett, who worked as a dietician, and Knight, a pastry chef by training, are now both retired.
Before Missouri's new law took effect, the pair used to drive from Kansas to Colorado -- an eight-hour trip in each direction -- to make their purchases. The mountain state was one of the first to liberalize its cannabis consumption laws.
That journey "cost us more money, almost as much as the marijuana," said Knight, who suffers from arthritis and depression.
"Now, we just go three hours. And it's really good for you. It's really good," she added, a small packet in her hand and a smile on her face.
'Crazy'
Of the states on Missouri's border, only Illinois has moved to decriminalize recreational cannabis use, meaning that dispensaries like the one in Kansas City -- one of several Proper Cannabis locations -- are sitting on a potential gold mine.
At that particular outlet, more than half of the buyers are from outside Missouri.
"We're surrounded by so many states. They're just coming to us from everywhere. It's crazy," says employee Chris Brown, his straggly hair escaping from a multicolored hat.
Across Missouri, cannabis sales in February -- when recreational use was legalized -- totaled $103 million, as compared with $37.2 million the month before, according to the state's health department.
"That really blew us away," said Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association (MoCannTrade), which projects the local market will soar to more than $1.2 billion in a year's time.
Big profits
Twenty minutes from the store where Brown works, in the city of Independence, an unmarked building is nestled between frost-covered fields and giant warehouses.
Beyond the security gates is a production facility with 30,000 square feet (2,800 square meters) of cannabis plants.
Louie Sebald, wearing a hoodie and sporting a thin mustache, is the director of cultivation for Illicit Gardens, which runs the plant. In three weeks, it will be operating at full capacity -- 1,500 pounds (680 kilos) of buds a month.
The ceilings are lined with LED lamps, drip irrigation systems and sensors to monitor humidity and other variables. An eerie green glow dimly illuminates the hallways and cannabis dryers.
Sebald, 35, is hiring. The facility needs to move from 130 to nearly 170 employees, working around the clock. Statewide, the sector employs 13,000 people, mainly in rural areas where industrial and farm work is dwindling.
He explains the math: "If you're producing for $400 (a pound), and you're selling for $2,300," the profits are clear.
'Then we'll go on home'
The industry in Missouri is not starting from zero. For the past two years, medical marijuana use has been legal.
The success of that initiative -- jobs created, no major pushback or incidents reported, no political backlash -- helped fuel the campaign for recreational use for Election Day 2022.
In the end, 53 percent of voters said yes to pot in a conservative-leaning state.
At the Illicit Gardens facility, one employee carefully flips buds, while in the room across the hall, products are packaged up. Joints are rolled on site as well.
"We buy just one, then we'll stop somewhere, smoke it," says Knight.
"Then we'll go on home."
© Agence France-Presse
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United States Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) launched an unprovoked and vacuously shallow attack on undocumented immigrants on Sunday afternoon, firing off a quartet of prejudicial tropes.
"Illegals have more rights than citizens. Squatters have more rights than homeowners," tweeted Boebert. "Deport the illegals. Evict the squatters."
If Boebert's intent was to garner attention, she succeeded.
READ MORE: Veteran rips into Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert over Jan. 6 jail visit
Dave Weissman: "Now you're just making crap up for clicks and likes."
B.E. Commander: "I so declare Boebert is both an illegal and a squatter in the US Congress, under the 14th Amendment, Insurrectionist clause!"
Alex: "Well, I guess it's settled then! Let's just toss out the Constitution and the rule of law, and go straight for mob justice! After all, who needs pesky things like human rights and due process when you can just demonize entire groups of people and ignore the complexities of social and economic issues? Amazing, Ms. Boebert, your simplistic and inflammatory rhetoric is truly an inspiration to us all."
Beach Bum: "Aren't you embarrassed supporting a seditious, treasonous, criminal, conman who pays hush money to porn stars and lies to cover up his indecency and corruption? You should be!"
Joshua@Seattle: "I've a better idea, Lauren. Hey, Colorado, VOTE OUT Lauren Boebert!!! She's an EMBARRASSMENT to our entire country!!! (Did we EVER have this kind of division and hostility BEFORE Donald Trump?)"
A to the Z: "According to the GQP rich former presidents have more rights than citizens and are above the law. Deport the GQP and keep the immigrants."
Robert VOTE Dominic: "Stoke fear in everyone. No plans, no platform, no real ideas. Just 'we have to get 'them.''"
Jeannette Webber: "'Illegals'?? Oh ye woman of faith, you are talking about PEOPLE! Ephesians 2:19"
Ray Doherty: "Another reminder there is no such thing as an illegal person."
Meidas Rick: "America has 3.6% unemployment with 11 million undocumented workers. Deport them and your groceries will triple because nobody will pick the fruits and vegetables or work in meat plants. And taxes they pay won't fill the coffers."
Serena: "That makes sense why they are making it legal for children to work. Clever stuff."
Renegade Cowboy: "Says the lady that illegally used campaign funds to pay her rent and utilities."
DD: "Says the one that claimed she has to stand in line for cheese handouts as a child. Such a pathetic hateful person with a rap sheet. This one is all yours Republicans. You should be embarrassed."
READ MORE: 'Then why are you allowed to vote?' Lauren Boebert goes down in flames after new Constitution gaffe
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US bank First Citizens said Monday it has agreed to purchase much of Silicon Valley Bank, whose collapse this month sparked global fears about the sector.
SVB, a key lender to the tech industry since the 1980s, became the biggest US bank to fail since 2008.
Regulators seized it after a sudden run on deposits, creating Silicon Valley Bridge Bank. That entity will be taken over by First Citizens from Monday.
First Citizens said it had agreed to purchase "substantially all loans and certain other assets, and assume all customer deposits and certain other liabilities of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank."
It said the 17 former branches of SVB will open on Monday as "Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank."
The transaction includes the sale of $72 billion in assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a statement.
Depositors of SVB will "automatically become depositors of First Citizens Bank," added the FDIC, which will continue to insure deposits.
All of the entity's loans and deposits will now be managed by First Citizens, while the FDIC will retain some $90 billion in securities and other assets.
SVB's collapse sparked a crisis of confidence among the customers of similarly sized US banks, with many withdrawing their money and depositing it into bigger institutions seen as too big for the government to not bail them out in a crisis.
The FDIC said it estimates the cost of SVB's failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to be approximately $20 billion.
Global worries
"This has been a remarkable transaction in partnership with the FDIC that should instill confidence in the banking system," Frank Holding Jr, chief executive of First Citizens, said in a statement according to Bloomberg.
Along with the FDIC, the United States Treasury and Federal Reserve had set out plans to ensure SVB customers would be able to access their deposits, while the Fed introduced a new lending tool for banks in an effort to prevent a repeat of SVB's quick demise.
The turmoil also spread to Europe, where troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse was taken over by UBS.
Most recently, shares in long-troubled Deutsche Bank fell heavily on Friday on the lender's surging cost of default cover, reigniting fears about a widening banking sector crisis.
Despite global contagion fears, central banks have pushed on with monetary tightening as they focus on fighting inflation -- even though the troubles in the banking sector have been linked to their rate hikes.
SVB took a $1.8 billion loss in the sale of a bond-heavy portfolio whose value dropped dramatically due to the rate hikes.
© Agence France-Presse
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